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Fingerprints of ancient forests offer rare look at Florida 16 million years ago by Halle Marchese Florida Museum, September 18, 2019 https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/science/ancient-forest-fingerprints/ Alum Bluff fossils show life 15 million years ago Danielle Ivanov, gainesville.com, Sep 29, 2019 https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190929/alum-bluff-fossils-show-life-15-million-years-ago The paper is: Lott, T.A., Manchester, S.R. and Corbett, S.L., 2019. The Miocene flora of Alum Bluff, Liberty County, Florida. Acta Palaeobotanica, 59(1), pp.75-129. Open access https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/acpa/59/1/article-p75.xml Yours, Paul H.

Land site near Venice FL Just the root was exposed. I wish I took a pic but I didn't think it was much when I pulled on it! It was like the sword in the Stone!!

Out Hunting today with friends, I found a rarity for me.. a small claw!!!! I looked for comparison photos but the photos are not detailed enough... SO, what animal produced this claw. 24 mm in length

I got a few fossils that I needed help identifying. One is a strange heart shape and appears to be bone. There's also a vertebrae and didn't know if it was a fish or shark vertebrae. I'm assuming shark due to its size. Finally, there is a bone that looks like a spur or piece of armor plating that I was trying to ID. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Posting for a colleague. Unidentified fossil found in small spoil pile in a public park after a recent rain. Found in Wimauma (southeast of Tampa), Hillsborough County, FL, USA. Feels dense (no marrow holes observed. Doesn't appear curved enough to be a claw. Any help with an ID is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Went with a friend. Of all the shark tooth hunts I've gone on, only found small stuff. Well this one day I got a few Megs, I think eight Makos, and a couple broke small Megs! Best hunt so far!!! I'm liking living in Florida so far! Having much better fossil hunting luck then I did when I lived in Connecticut!

Hello, We are a team of two, me and my 10 year old son. Wherever we go, he is always looking for interesting rocks and fossils. He found a few things last weekend the he would like to identify. Off to the ID section......

Hi! Can anyone help me out to identify this partial tooth? I was told that it belongs to a white-tailed deer but i don't see any similarities with it, cause i do have also partial tooth from that type of deer? The chewing zone on tooth although partial doesn't look to me as a deer tooth. So what it could be then? I know that is found somewhere in Florida and that belongs to Pleistocene period. It's pretty strange though. Darko

I was not quite sure what I should have put this discussion under, but Fossil ID seems related. My basic goal is to get photos of this fossil up on the Internet so that it might facilitate other identifications. I have not been posting very much because I have not been out hunting very much. My favorite hunting ground, Peace River Florida, has been far too deep and fast for many months to allow hunting. I was just making an intelligent decision not to drown. I have a single location that very infrequently gets low enough to allow access, and because of other fauna found, I recognize as a Miocene site. A couple of weeks back, I had such and opportunity and did not find very much, but this incisor stood out. It was a stretch to believe this to be a horse incisor. However, it is small enough to be the incisor of a pre Equus horse, and only small terrestrial mammal I had found at this location were some cormohipparion molar. Realizing that, EVEN on TFF, not many would have found or owned an incisor from a Miocene horse, I sent these photos to Richard Hulbert, director/curator of the Vertebrate Research Lab, University of Florida, Gainesville. His response below: I looked up "deciduous" to make sure I knew the meaning. If anyone has a deciduous horse tooth, please post. I would love to see another. In the meantime, I am pleased to find such a rare tooth...

I had posted a poster of Florida shells of mine earlier but could not zoom in enough so I am posting individual fossil shells in hopes of getting correct identifications or adding to photo database. I am new to this so please gently guide me if I am not following a proper procedure or posting in an incorrect place. I have many high quality photos but am not sure where to put them. I can't seem to create a gallery for myself. Help Please? Thanks, Scott

I don't know where to begin. I am completely new to the forum. I will eventually be posting some fossils for help with ID and others that are identified by experts already. Having said that, this poster represents some of my fossils. I am not sure if can even read the names underneath. I may have to post separately. Any ID corrections would be graciously accepted. What I really need help with is locations. While living in FL for several years, I would go to a couple of locations in Polk Co. where I knew road base, I believe it is called aggregates were often kept. I visited and collected. What I don't know if where the shells originated. APAC Pit in Sarasota, Aggregates Pit in Bonita Springs, Star Ranch Quarry, Clewiston, Cochran Pit in Labelle to name a few possible locations. Based on the shells collected, it would seem that most come from either the Tiamiami or Caloosahatchee Formations, not sure which members....Pinecrest Beds, Bermont, Ayers Landing Ft. Denaud etc. How do I know what collection data to include on my label. I can list where I found it, but it is not its origin. ID is pretty ok with Petuch's works, but if I don't know the origin, it makes ID much more difficult. Any input or ideas to help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. I have included a sample collection label for anyone to comment on how to improve. One is more vague since I don't know origin, the other is from a fossil I purchased. Date on label was date I added to my collection. How important is it to list the taxonomist such as Petuch or Conrad etc? scienceteacher79

Hello! I have recently returned from a trip to Venice, FL, and I need some help identifying a few of my finds. To start, I THINK this is a sloth caudal vertebrae, but I would like to hear everyone's thoughts. It was found at an inland dredge site in the Venice area that we had permission to hunt on. The measurements are approximately 80mm × 80mm × 60mm, and it is quite dense. The material was vast and varied, so I am unable to pinpoint the era the material was from. Any and all help is greatly appreciated! Thanks, Stefanie

Hi! I'm Stefanie from Ohio and I am a new member on the site, though I've been a viewer for quite some time now. I've been a lover of sharks and shark tooth hunting for many years, and let me tell you, it is hard being a die hard shark lover living in Ohio. My shark tooth addiction has inevitably led me to uncover many other fossils, which has greatly expanded my interests as well. I've recently returned from a trip to Florida (where I seem to find myself often) and am needing some assistance id'ing a few finds, which is what ultimately prompted me to make this profile. From everything I have observed here, there is an abundance of very knowledgeable individuals and everyone is so kind and helpful. It seemed like the perfect place to come to ask for assistance. Anyhow, I look forward to getting to know everyone and sharing my finds along the way. Below is a picture of all my new megalodon finds from my most recent trip to Florida. Not too shabby for a few hours in the spoils. Thanks for taking the time to get to know a little about me!!

I’m pretty sure this report is going to get pretty wordy but I hope you all enjoy reading it! A few weeks ago a friend and I made plans to head down to Manasota Key for a day of fossil hunting on the beach. I left my house just before 7 AM and drove down to her house in Tampa. After transferring my things into her car we left her house just after 8 AM. We took I75 south until Venice Beach at which point we started driving on smaller roads. The plan was to check out any housing developments under construction or other construction sites we came across that weren’t posted. At the first housing development we stopped at there was a mix of completed houses, ones in the process of being built, and empty lots without a single no trespassing sign in site. We drove around the community a bit looking for a place to stop and ended up hunting around the edges of a retention pond. We didn’t find much beyond a few small shark teeth and bone fragments. After about 15 minutes we got back into the car to look for another spot. We could see an area that was still in the freshly bulldozed stage and start driving around trying to find the best way to get over to it. We found a spot in a cul-de-sac but there was one of those portable trailers that are used as offices for construction crews sitting there that made us a little nervous even though it looked to be unoccupied so we moved on to see if we could find a different access point. While we were driving around we came across an empty lot with lots of exposed piles of dirt and bits of rock so we stopped to poke around. That turned out to be a much more productive site the then first one although it was also a lot more muddy! While we were exploring it and dropping small shark teeth, turtle shell, and bits of bone another car pulled up near ours. Needless to say we got a bit nervous thinking it was someone official coming to tell us to leave. It turned out to be one of the contract workers that sprayed for insects and he stopped to see what we were doing. Turns out he had just started fossil hunting himself and he stopped just to talk about fossils! After he left we continued looking around and trying not to get too muddy although at one point I did sink down into the mud to my ankles and ended up falling onto my knees. Our best finds for that site was the large section of modern soft shell turtle shell my friend found and a dolphin ear bone I found. After a while we got back into the car to continue looking for an access point to the bulldozed area without success. Finally we headed back to the cul-de-sac and just try from that point. Unfortunately by the time we got there it was starting to rain so I put on a rain coat and walked out a little ways to see if was even possible to get over to the large piles we could see in the distance while my friend waited in the car. By this time the rain had changed from falling gently into a downpour and ground was becoming a quagmire. I could see that it was possible to get the piles but to do so we would have to go down a steep bank and across a construction rode that was rapidly turning into a muddy swamp. After getting back to the car we decided it just wasn’t feasible to get to the piles at that time and headed off to find lunch. One our way to a local restaurant we passed a shopping center under construction and decided to come back to explore it after we ate. Once we had finished eating the rain was down to a drizzle so we headed back to the shopping center construction site. Once we got there though we realized there were quite a few people working on the site and didn’t feel comfortable stopping. So we drove through the parking lot and stopped at the entrance to a side road. As we sat there discussing where to go next a dump truck passed us heading out to the main road while a second one headed in the opposite direction. We rather quickly decided to follow the second truck beyond the shopping center and into what looked like some type of complex or housing development that was in the process of being worked on. The section we were in had plenty of small trees and there wasn’t any bulldozed area but we figured that the truck was likely to lead us to a section we could look for fossils in. We followed the truck as far as we could but they it joined another truck in driving back into a section that wasn’t accessible to us. In disappointment we poked around the gravel road a little before turning around to finally go to the beach. As we pulled up to a stop sign at a two way road that would lead us back to the main highway we just happened to look off into the distance and spotted something that made us very excited, very quickly. Not too far down the road we could see the top of what looked to be an immense pile of limestone rubble and dirt towering over the areas short trees. We were quick to drive towards it and discovered the truly huge pile sitting in an empty lot surrounded by overgrown vegetation right off the main road. And there wasn’t a single no trespassing sign to be seen! We were so excited to start exploring that all we grabbed as we got out of the car were our buckets and hats before heading straight for the pile, completely forgetting about things like water bottles, sunscreen, or phones. The empty area leading up to the pile was littered with shells, bits of worn bone, and small sharks teeth. And the closer to the pile we got the bigger the teeth got! We rather quickly split up to search different areas. I tend to be a more methodical searcher than her so I move much slower while she is able to cover much more ground. I hadn’t managed to get too far down one side of the pile before I came across the biggest Mako tooth I’ve ever found and the color of it was fantastic. It quickly was put into the plastic container that I always carry in my bucket to keep my best finds separate from any large rocks or bone chunks I pick up. After that I keep wandering around and end up making my way over to a line of smaller piles were I find some nice sting ray barbs and a broken sea urchin spine. No while I’m collecting the nicer fossils for myself I’m also picking up all kinds of broken bits of bone for my parents to use in a sidewalk mosaic project that are planning for this fall. I get nearly to the end of the pile when I spot what I think is either a worn bit of bone or shell casting mostly buried in the dirt. But when I start pulling it out I realized that I had just found my first intact, decently sized Megalodon tooth! At this point I can’t start grinning while yelling for my friend and holding the tooth in the air for her to see! It is shortly after this point that I began to realize what a mistake it was to leave the car without a bottle of water as I was starting to feel rather ill. The two of us decided to retreat to the car and sit in the air condition for a while, drinking water and comparing our finds. About 15 minutes later we couldn’t resist returning to the piles to look for more fossils although this time we remember to grab both fresh water bottles and our phones. We still forgot the sunscreen though! Even though we searched around for about another hour and found more smaller shark teeth neither of us made any other big finds. At shortly after 5 we decided to call it a day and start the long drive home. We never did make it to the beach but it was fun and productive day. Because I forgot my phone in the car most of the day the only picture I took of any of the sites was of a strange looking plant I came across towards the end of the day. Below are pictures of my finds after I cleaned them up. It will probably take several posts to share them all.

I have this Arctodus simus vertebra for trade from Florida. It measures 6 inches wide and has some material to hold the processes together. I will trade for GOOD Portuguese dino material, but I will consider other options as well.

Some good friends offered to take me hunting for a couple of hours today.. thank the Lord for good friends. It was only 2 hours but I found some unusual items... including a number of high quality dolphin small verts. Then this one showed up... unusual, meaning I have never seen one like it previously. It's a vertebrae and I thought this would be trivial-- just search the net for "fossil dolphin Axis Atlas vertebrae". No luck... So what is it ? Tail vert.? what?

Here are two anterior teeth which have been a challenge to ID. @Al Dentebelieves these teeth may be both be from an odontaspid shark, Tethylamna twiggsensis (Serratolamna koerti). I believe they may be from two separate families: The larger tooth from a sand tiger shark, Carcharias sp., while the smaller is a lamnid as Al Dente suggests. The options are Lamnidae or Odontaspididae. Are these two teeth from the same family, or are two different shark families represented by these teeth?

I found this tooth a few years ago at caspersen beach while living in florida any help in identifying it would be greatly appreciated.

Hello all! Last October, Ken @digit gifted me and Viola some large Florida fossil shells. I took ownership of 4 shells and Viola took the rest. Now that I'm almost done labeling all of my fossils, I would like to put a genus and perhaps even a species for each of my specimens - any and all help is much appreciated - perhaps @MikeR can provide some assistance? And, Ken, are these from "Cookiecutter Creek"? And what age should I put to them? Specimen #1: A bivalve - perhaps Mercenaria sp.? Specimen #2: Another bivalve - perhaps Dinocardium sp.? Specimen #3: A gastropod with the opening on the left, so I think it might be Sinistrofulgur contrarium - is this correct? Specimen #4: Another gastropod - perhaps Melongena corona? Thanks in advance! Monica

I see on the news that Our friends in Florida are about to be hit with another hurricane! I am sending out this thread to wish Y'all down there the best of luck and stay safe! Regards, Tony

Hi! I recently found this little jaw segment while beachcombing. It’s a bit less than 1/2” long and ~1/8” wide with a bit of rock attached to the convex side. One end of the jawbone curves upward in the direction of the teeth. Any ideas? For some reason I can upload only one image. I will add another post with more pics

During my recent visit to Bradenton, Florida, I collected many dugong rib bones to put into the fossil pit for kids at our local nature park. I pulled 3 out to keep. This one was lighter in weight and color to the others. My wife accidentally dropped it on the floor, breaking it. After looking at the damaged piece, I began to wonder if this was indeed a dugong rib. Any thoughts are appreciated. Mike

It's been a couple years since I last posted on this forum. Life got a bit more hectic due to health issues and a work promotion. Recently though I've finally had more time for fossils. I found a shark tooth today on the way home from work that I'm not familiar with. The tooth was found in a pile of limestone large gravel, sand, and chunks of chert that had been brought to the site from an unknown but local mine. I just happened across the pile unexpectedly and decided to stop even though it was drizzling out and I was hearing a bit of thunder. Other fossils I found in the same pile are shell castings, sponges, bryozoan, and a few echinoids. The location is the Ocala area of Marion County, Florida. I believe this part of the Ocala limestone and is eocene in age. While the root is a bit damaged and there's a chip in the blade the cusplets look to be in perfect condition. I'm leaning towards this tooth being a mackerel shark but it's not an exact match. Can anyone correctly identify it?

Not sure what this find is but possibly looks like a little skull of some kind??

Had a nice day of diving off Venice. Lots of broken and small teeth, but the highlights were definitely this nice 4” and chunky 5.5”.